Mr Danbury, also said the speed Mr Flint was going was not a factor in his death

PC Kevin Flint, 52, died after hitting a pheasant and then crashing his motorbike on January 15

An off-duty police officer died after a pheasant hit his ‘upper chest or throat’ as he rode his motorbike home from work at 83 miles per hour, an inquest heard.

PC Kevin Flint, 52, was driving his green Triumph Trophy at around 4pm on January 15 when two pheasants flew across the road, Hertfordshire Coroner’s Court heard.

A pheasant hit him in the ‘upper chest or throat’ and PC Flint lost control of his motorbike and hit a recovery vehicle in a lay-by on the A41 between the Chesham and Tring junctions in Hertfordshire, as reported by the BBC.

He said: ‘He was travelling on the road and something completely unpredictable happened with the consequence that he lost control of his machine and consequently went across to the lay-by and struck a hard unforgiving object.’

A post-mortem examination found the officer, who had been with the force for 27 years, had no drugs or alcohol in his system.

Hundreds of police officers gathered to pay their respects to PC Kevin Flint at his funeral in February

A pheasant hit him in the ‘upper chest or throat’ and Mr Flint lost control of his motorbike and hit a recovery vehicle in a lay-by on the A41 (pictured) between the Chesham and Tring junctions in Hertfordshire, as reported by the BBC

Mr Danbury, also said the speed PC Flint was going was not a factor in his death.

PC Flint was a neighbourhood officer based at Chesham with Thames Valley Police and was a much loved father of two, Rachael and Nathan.

He lived with his partner in Tring, and was a lifelong, passionate, highly experienced motorcyclist.

In a tribute to her partner, Lynn McGill said: ‘His passion was to be with the local community where he could work face-to-face talking to the public and making a positive difference in people’s lives.’

His brother Derek said: ‘He was an old school copper. He was a real people person.’